The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regulations gazetted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in December 2020 present opportunities for individuals and businesses in the energy sector, including young professionals, entrepreneurs and graduates in the engineering disciplines with the mindset to be a part of the energy efficiency solution, says Alliance Energy MD Vash Singh. Under the EPC regulations, buildings in South Africa need to have their energy performance assessed by an accredited party, which will issue an EPC that rates the building in terms of energy efficiency.
State-owned electricity utility Eskom says it is “not feasible” for the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to make a revenue determination, for implementation on April 1 2022, on the basis of a new methodology that has yet to be consulted or finalised. On September 24, Nersa published a consultation paper on a possible new price determination methodology in which it states that the “current revenue-based methodology has fallen short in providing stable prices”.
The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has highlighted the importance to the country, and indeed the wider world, of the now-authorsied programme to construct a new Multipurpose Reactor (MPR). It did so in its statement, issued on Sunday, welcoming the Cabinet’s decision to approve the acquisition and construction of an MPR. The MPR will be located at Necsa’s complex at Pelindaba, west of Pretoria, and will replace the State-owned entity’s current 20 MW SAFARI-1 research reactor, which first became operational in 1965. “Cabinet approval of [the] SAFARI-1 replacement is a major milestone for South Africa, the continent and the whole world,” affirmed Necsa Group CE Loyiso Tyabashe.